Author name: Jenny Nicole

Ruth Palmer’s Whole Life
Social Media

Ruth Palmer’s Whole Life Was Stolen by a Stranger on Social Media

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Here’s an interesting story I read in the news today. And it involves three cyber dangers that we’ve been discussing at length on this blog: Identity theft Catfishing Digital kidnapping The underlining lesson in this news story was that anyone—child or adult—can fall prey to cyber dangers. Justin Makes an Online Friend This story first surfaced when Justin (which, fyi is an alias to protect identity) made an online friend in someone called Leah Palmer. Leah, apparently, lives a glamorous life. She works in fashion, travels around the world, has lots of friends and is almost Insta-famous. And as Justin and Leah grew closer and began a relationship, they planned to meet up, only to find that Leah would always be unavailable. Travel, illness, or family tragedies always kept her from meeting Justin in real life. Justin didn’t think much of it, but even he had to admit something was awry. Fenton Gee Isn’t Buying it Justin isn’t the only one ‘Leah’ had befriended. British DJ Fenton Gee was also one of Leah’s online romantic escapades. However, after speaking to her for a while, Fenton wasn’t as taken with Leah as Justin was and knew that a lot of things about her simply didn’t add up. He suspected that she didn’t even live the life she posted in Instagram and various other social media sites, and publically called her out on it. What’s even more curious? Once backed into a corner, Leah would disappear completely, cutting off all contact. To keep up with the façade, she even had another character playing her mother. This mother would call up Justin and Fenton asking where she was. The “Real” Leah Steps Forward Pretty soon, news travelled (as it often does on the internet) and Ruth Palmer found out that nearly 1000 of her photos had been stolen by a stranger posing as Leah Palmer. The identity thief—who still hasn’t been traced down—had fabricated an entire fantasy online life for herself based on these pictures and lured several men into false relationships. Ruth Palmer is a 25-year-old from Brighton who works as an account manager in Dubai with her husband. Ironically, the con artist has more Instagram followers than does she. But even so, the con artist has stolen parts of her life to create an online façade. Ruth’s friends in pictures end up becoming her friends… Ruth’s husband became Leah’s “crazy ex”. Even more troubling is the fact that once Ruth has these fake accounts taken down, the mystery con artist creates another one within days. Protecting Your Kids This story is a typical lesson in identity theft, catfishing and digital kidnapping that we always talk about. It just reiterates how important it is for you to monitor how your children use social media. Once you’ve got the right parental controls, check that they Have the correct privacy settings Don’t have strangers on their friends list Stay away from bullies that may use their photos for mockery/impersonation If possible, keep all their photos private and visible only to a certain amount of friends Don’t post photos that are too personal or give too much away about their life Keep in mind how difficult it has been for Ruth Palmer to track down the con artist and learn to take matters in your own hands. Be the one that protects your children.

Summer Camp
Child Monitoring

4 Things You Need to Do before Sending Your Kid off to Summer Camp

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Summer time, and the living is easy. Yeah, you should be so lucky. Because even when the kids are heading away for summer camp, you’ve got your work cut out for you. Choosing the appropriate camp is one hurdle done, getting them on board is another. But when it comes right down to actually packing up and preparing to send them off, the ordeal might be too much for you, especially if your kid has never been to summer camp before. As always, we’re here to help you. Camp is supposed to be a fun, insightful experience for your kids and yourself. If you take a deep breath and follow this starter pack, you’ll have everything done right on time. 1.      Create a Checklist before Packing The basic principle that is going to get things in order for you is planning ahead. Even when it comes to packing. Rule number 1: never leave packing for the day before. As soon as you’ve picked out a camp for your child, begin preparing for it by creating a checklist of things you are going to need. Decide how many clothes you are going to pack and how you need to arrange them. See if you need to buy more deodorant, socks, underwear or towels. Categorize things you need to pack into Clothing Showering items like soap, shampoo, towels Other hygiene products such as powder, deodorant, or sanitizer Tools or devices like flashlight, GPS or smartphones Stationary like a notepad, pens, or stamps Comfort items like a family photo or a pack of snacks if allowed Medication if you child takes any This will make you a lot more organized and you won’t be running in circles before the sending off day. 2.      Prepare Them Another thing you need to do is to talk to your kids about camp… a lot. Getting your child in the right headspace is really important, especially if it is their first time. Heck, lots of second and third timers struggle with leaving home for any amount of time. Choose a camp together and get them excited for it. Make them view websites, photos or videos of all the activities they would get to do while there and the amount of likeminded people they will meet. Have them talk to older kids if you must so that they can share their camp experiences. Most kids will be excited without you having to try it. Just remember that leaving the comfort of a parent fending for them could be a big emotional deal for them—even if it is for a short amount of time. 3.      Install a Monitoring App When you send them off, of course you’re going to worry about them. It’s their first time on their own and away from the nest. Plus, you’re a parent and it is in your nature to worry, we get that. But paying too many visits kin do defeats the purpose of summer camp. Stow away your anxiety with a monitoring app instead. It will give you just the right amount of information regarding their safety and wellbeing without compromising on their independence. Summer camp needs to be a time for self-discovery and learning how to take care of themselves, so too much intrusion from you won’t be suitable. Get a parental control, keep a silent eye on them and be done with it. 4.      Plan Your Visits Finally, plan your visits ahead of time. Like we said before, visiting too often won’t be too useful. Talk to the camp management about how many visits are allowed. You’ll know your child better than anyone and can probably know what their coping mechanism is like. Some kids struggle with being away in the first week of camp; some start to get homesick midway through. Plan your visits accordingly, giving your kids a check in when you think they might be low or struggling with something that can’t handle on their own. Most of all, take it easy! Summer camp should be an experience they won’t forget, and they’ll be begging to go back before you know it.

Game of 72
Child Monitoring

Game of 72 – Why Parents Should Not Leave Their Kids Unmonitored

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This new Facebook craze has taken over the social media as a sinister trend. Compared to last year’s contender Ice Bucket challenge (which was at least for a good cause), this one is far more disturbing. By the end of this read, you will definitely consider actively monitoring your kids. This trend may also be a deathblow to a recent Free Range Kids movement, elucidating how leaving kids on their own can be extremely DANGEROUS! This nefarious challenge called the Game of 72 involves daring other teens to disappear for 72 consecutive hours without any contact with their parents. They will only ‘win’ the challenge if they end up as missing person and are left unfound till the time is up. The game that inspired the hashtag #Gameof72 originated from France where a 13 year old girl named Emma disappeared for three days. On authority’s enquiry, she mentioned nothing but that she played the Game of 72. The trend is slowly creeping into United States and is already linked to the disappearance of three school girls who were eventually found together in Westcliffe, Southend-On-Sea without any harm (thankfully) To the Water or a Restaurant It’s not the first time the world has seen a crazy trend prevailing from France. Last year, social media users started a challenge where a person either pays for someone’s meal or they jump into a river. The stunt caused death of a teen who drowned after throwing himself into the river. Cinnamon Challenge Then we had the cinnamon challenge which involved swallowing scoops of cinnamon. Well it did end of with some Lungs injuries and poisoning, It’s a Warning Sign for Parents This challenge is an eminent reminder for parents that tracking their kids’ social media activities is extremely important. A parental control app that can lookout for what teens are sharing on social media can essentially help parents premeditate their kids’ activities. Educate Them It’s also pertinent that parents educate their kids about the risks of social media. They should also learn to use social media so that their kids find themselves in a comfort zone where they can discuss their online issues.

Small Business Owners Monitoring App
Employee Monitoring

How Small Business Owners Can Get Their Life Back

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One of the problems that I see every small-scale owners face is not finding enough time for their personal lives. They whine and cry (literally) like babies because the kind of work/life balance that they desire is not attained. After some digging through theories and research regarding this area, I came across this phenomenon of Delegation that every expert’s opinion was referring to.  It’s considered as one of the most effective methods for small business owners to cut on their working hours. Delegation involves empowering your employees and managers to make vital business decisions, ensuring a relationship of trust and assurance that you don’t expect them to be perfect. What’s Wrong with Small Entrepreneurs? New entrepreneurs are energetic and hardworking and they try to take all the responsibility onto their shoulders. And while they do so, they miss on the most important part—learning. There is a learning curve that every small business owner has to go through I.e. learning to delegate. Entrepreneurs start wearing too many hats, making every kind of decision by themselves. But soon the company grows and they start to procrastinate on some less-important decisions which brings in humongous issues for the future. If getting your hours back means to you, then there is a need to break this dynamic. Change your behavior and mitigate a vibe of understanding and trust that empowers employees to make more decisions even at the cost of some mistakes. Getting Started With Delegating Before you formulate any further plans, ask these questions to yourself: What’s keeping you from delegating and entrusting your employees with critical decisions? Is it just procrastination in breaking the old habit or you find you employees not eligible to take on the serious responsibilities? Which employees do you trust the most to do the right thing? You trust them ethically but find them not knowledgeable enough to make the decisions, how can you ensure that they become more knowledgeable? If you are amongst the majority who complain about extensive working hours but fail to delegate, then guess what who is the problem here? That’s right, YOU are the problem child here. Your employees will not step up unless they are provided precise guidance. And lastly, assure them they need to make decisions even if they aren’t completely perfect. Make an honest effort at delegating to have a better chance at getting your life back.

South Korea Parental Control
Child Monitoring

South Korea Sets Precedent for Proactive Use of Parental Controls

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In South Korea, it has become mandatory for parents to install parental controls in their minor’s smartphones. Recently, laws have enforced that new phones cannot be sold to minors without a monitoring app installed in them. Schools are encouraging parents to install such apps in the old phones as well. Why Has Digital Monitoring Taken Off? The biggest reason why digital parenting has been enforced by law is because the internet and smartphones have been made available to its people in cheap rates. This is all well and good for closing the digital gap, but what it has also done is created a national obsession. The South Korean youth has gone smartphone crazy. 72% elementary school kids own a smartphone. Compare this with the 20% of 2011 and the tech explosion seems ever more eminent. The bigger concern is regarding how this affects the South Korean youth. There has been widespread concern regarding the kind of data and content that is readily available to teenagers across the country. Moreover, this kids have also developed a habit of excessive gaming. So limiting device use has been a national point of concern over the past 5 years. What Do the Kids Have to Say? As one would expect, kids are not too keen on parenting apps. Before it became the law, kids would beg and bargain with their parents to remove the monitoring software from their phones. Some kids insisted that they would wait until they are adults to buy a smartphone. Mostly, though, kids wanted their parents to know that they’re not always using smartphones for bad stuff and that constantly being under surveillance takes away their privacy. This in turn brings back the debate—monitoring or privacy? When dealing with a nation of internet addicts, obsessive gamers, and kids that just don’t know when to stop when it comes to their devices, what do you choose? Do you choose to correct their habit and help them lead a healthy, wholesome life? Or do you choose to give them the privacy they need for a better cognitive development? Is there a Happy Medium? If your kids are spiraling out of control, stepping in is necessary no matter what. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give them the privacy they crave. XNSPY is the happy medium you need because it is a nonintrusive monitoring app. You will be able to everything that goes on in your child’s smartphone, but it won’t interfere in their day to day use. At the same time, your monitoring can be totally discreet since it works silently in the background of the phones. At the end of the day, you’re not just finding a way to curb their smartphone addiction; you are also ensuring their safety, which makes this all worth it.

Stressed Employee
Business

How to Overcome Burnout at Work

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Everyone can experience burnout. You could be working your dream job, be part of a great company or have day to day tasks that you like, but there can come a time when everything starts to lose its color. That’s burnout. But guess what? This too, will pass, and you most definitely can overcome it. Let’s learn a bit more about workplace burnout, shall we? Signs of Burnout If you’re feeling distressed, low, demoralized, or generally disillusioned by the work that once excited you, you could be in trouble. Here are some signs that will tell you if what you are feeling is temporary of if you have in fact, burned out: If there is one thing that the infographic highlights, it is the fact that the effects of your workplace seep into your overall wellbeing. When you are burned out, you will feel unhappy, tired, drained, and even ill at times. Workout Overload is a Culprit One of the biggest reasons employees experience burnout, quite simply, is because of too much work. The Social Workplace highlights how that can be detrimental to the employee and the company: A high workload is the biggest reason for employee distress that ultimately leads to them leaving the job. You will be able to feel the negative energy emanate from an employee that is stressed and unhappy because they create a strained environment around them. The Working Mom’s Perspective It is interesting to know that the percentage of people in the US that experience burnout the most are working moms. And it makes sense… since they are working double duty, they are always in a high pressure situation. Here’s more from Working Mom’s Break: Most working moms feel like their work life interferes greatly into their home lives. This creates mom guilt when they feel that they are not spending enough time with their children. Ironically, they are often made to feel this way by their own partners. Avoiding Burnout So what to do when you have, in fact, burned out? Lifehacker has some suggestions: Taking some time off can be an amazing stress relief, but making lifestyle changes is important, too. Such as incorporating a few minutes of exercise and spending time in green spaces and fresh air. Through small changes, you’re rewiring your brain into falling in love with your job again. Of course it is easier said than done, but subtle inclusions will make this time a lot better for you. However, you’re probably the best judge about if you can bounce back from your burnout or if you think you’ve had enough of your career. In either case, take some time to stop and self-reflect and make choices that are the best for you.  

Child Monitoring

How Radical Parents are Failing their Teens

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For this blog post, I will be talking about different radical parenting methods and how they are influencing kids. Too many parents fail to understand their teens. They expect them to just skip on their adolescence and jump straight to adulthood, without any experimentation, mistakes or blemishes on their school transcripts. Read through and ask yourself, “Which radical parent am I?” Helicopter Parenting You will see helicopter parents, waiting outside their kids’ classroom, checking on the latest exam grades. They have the tendency to ‘hover’ around their kids so to prevent any sort of mishap. This genre of parents are ‘forever’ monitoring their kids especially in their academic achievements. They will make regular calls at school to know about their kids’ performance and whereabouts. What’s so flawed about his parenting attitude is that parents are over-involved in their kids’ life. They don’t let kids to learn from their mistakes. (Xanax) Kids who grow up under helicopter parenting are as nervous as their parents, says Erika Krull, a mental health counsellor. Parents obsessed with 24/7 monitoring can use smartphone parental controls. They work without intruding your teen’s privacy. Teacup Parenting These parents are ‘forever’ consulting doctors for their kids. They treat them as if they were fragile teacups. Even a small bruise or the sound of a sniffle will make them worry like hell. Even when kids grow up, they can cut loose their habit of excessively worrying for their kids. The positive side with these parents is that they are extremely caring. The minus side is that they leave no space for their children to learn, as it is with Helicopter parenting. Raise a self-reliant child with these 6 tips from Knowmore.tv: Unconditional Parenting ‘You will only get a candy when you do your homework’ or ‘stop teasing your brother or you are going straight to your room’ are just few of the many examples of unconditional parenting. The author of ‘unconditional parenting’, Alfie Kohn says,’ this kind of behavior from parents leave a message to their kids that they only love them for doing the right things’. Parenting the Right Way There is no perfect parenting method, as each on of it has its ups and downs. Free-range kids’ movement by Lenore Skenazy wants to change the ‘not-so-successful’ parenting styles. She believes free play outside can bring positive changes to learning and development of kids. However, a few decade ago, it would have sounded perfectly fine but it seems like scary to leave kids on their own in parks or for cycling, giving child predators an open invitation. A smartphone monitoring app can always keep a check on your kid’s real-time location. This way you can ensure that kids enjoy their learning without any fear of trouble.

Employee Monitoring

13 Classic Signs That Your Employees Are Disengaged

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No employee recognition? It means your company’s plans are soon going to the dumpster; that’s what this latest research by WorldAtWork inclines its emphasis at. Or conversely, we can say companies with engaged employees have a higher chances to meet company targets. Companies should focus on recognition programs, as WorldAtWork revealed that 89% of the companies were able to achieve their targets with multiple schemes, compared to 66% who focused on just a single program. So one of the goals that managers have to proactively work on these days is engaging employees and then capture their resulting performance boost. But first, they need to know if their employees are disengaged or not. Have a look at this infographic by Office Vibe: Managers can look for other signs too. Disengaged employees are usually confronting the ‘Alienation syndrome’ and therefore you will mostly find them eating their lunch alone or procrastinating during staff meetings or spending too much time in the toilet. They will also prefer to work alone and avoid group tasks. This facet of a disengaged employee is particularly contagious. So better watch out for these employees before they poison their peers. They also have a poor reputation for productivity. They are usually sunk in their own thoughts that growing and working for their company is not their priority. Helping the Disengaged Employees Sick leaves, low productivity or inability to interact actively can also mean that your employee is going through some rough patch. And that disengagement might just be a temporary transition. Before making a decision about your employee, make sure you track them for a time long enough that these short terms anomalies are removed from your analysis. Use an employee monitoring tool for this purpose.  

Single Dad
Child Monitoring

Single Dads-the Most Underrated Species of Parent

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Single dads have it bad. They have twice as much as work and half as much appreciation. Because being a single parent—mom or dad—insinuates that they’re also the sole breadwinners. And to balance a 9 to 5 job with a 24/7 parenting duty would make anyone’s mind boggle. Single dads don’t have a tag-team advantage with their partners either. And if they are the stay-at-home dads, then people around them don’t make them feel all that special either. What’s a man to do when he’s giving it all he has to bring up his children and the school still asks for “the mom to be there” at parent-teacher conferences and such. Moms are great… but single dads are not too bad themselves. This species of dad is increasing all around the world. Look at these stats from Australia according to Mccrindle. And yet the father is still seen as the substitute for mom and not a competent parent himself. The Hollywood Single Dad So why exactly are single dads so underappreciated, you ask? I suppose the media is to blame slightly. Hollywood’s single dad trope is that of a man discovering the joys of fatherhood in a lot of plaid shirts with a lot of bad cooking. The kids are often shown to be neglected and falling behind in their classes. Perhaps a scene or two where our hero has an emotional breakdown in which he realizes how difficult his life is. Or generally will be portrayed in situations like these… Which basically translates as single dads make fail parents. The Single Dad Stigma And then of course, partly to blame is the social stigma that comes with the misogyny that fills the air we breathe: men are simply not supposed to take care of children (it’s the woman’s job!). So while the real life single dad would be perfectly capable of cooking, cleaning, driving to school and counselling, people seem to be more comfortable with the Hollywood versions that suck at the job. The ‘Dads are Not Moms’ Argument People will more readily accept a single mom, but they will always question if the single dad is a good enough parent. What people want to look for is a Mr. Mom, not a Dad. Because when you think Mom, you think woman who has been raised her whole like to be a nurturer. And when you think Dad you think a man that is gritty and rustic, and more of a protector than a caregiver. So yeah, the earlier notion still stands… single dads have it hard. The Single Dad of Today Jim Higley is a single dad who has been pretty vocal about how modern day single dads are so far away from the uninvolved image that has been popularized. He has stressed how the dad of today can be just as much the nurturer and caregiver as the mother, CNN reports. He appeared on The View to speak of the media’s misrepresentation of the single dad as well. Take a look at this. The dad of today: Spends 3x the amount of time with kids compared to a 1965 dad Doesn’t mind being a stay-at-home parent—that’s 2x more house dads than in 1989 Is just as much of a moral support as the mom Are just as involved in taking parenting classes as their female counterparts Here’s To All You Dads! Parenting isn’t really about the cooking and the cleaning and the laundry, is it? The only reason people think of those aspects when it comes to single dads is because those are traditionally feminine duties. But we’re a full 64 years ahead of the 1950s. And it is time we start accepting the fact that a single dad is fully capable of emotional upbringing. They make great mentors in their children’s educational careers. They are good counsellors. They are reasonable disciplinarians. They’re not substitutable with mothers because they are their own brand of parent. And yes, they can cook and do laundry pretty decently, too. To all the dads who are underappreciated and misrepresented, we believe in you and think you’re great, too!

Toxic Wrokplace
Employee Monitoring

8 Steps to Detox and Transform Your Toxic Workplace Environment

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No one wants to work in a toxic environment, not even the people that are already in it. You can feel the negative energy in an office where people are unhappy and the atmosphere is tense. A place like that is no place for new ideas or creativity or growth. So if you’ve read our previous blog and found that your workplace checked all the boxes, it is time to roll up the sleeves. Detoxification of a workplace consists of changing its culture. It sounds difficult to do, sure. But it is not impossible if you follow these steps. 1.      Acceptance The first step in transforming your workplace is accepting that it needs work. Most employers stay in denial, or simply maintain the status quo because change means making an investment that don’t have time and money for. Here’s a reality check for you: your work culture has been infected and it is probably already costing you more than you realize. None of your employees want to work, not when they have so much animosity toward the company. So, the sooner you accept that your company needs help, the sooner you can work to make it better. 2.      Stop. Reset. So how to you start the change? With a clean slate. Step back and you’ll realize how ill-fated everything has become. Like an outdated, rusty machine, you end up with a higher depreciation than production. Time to get a new machine—or in this case, a new environment. This will include changing your goals, the strategies that are used to attain that goal and the day to day tasks your employees get. Everything needs a makeover. It will take time and the transition period can be problematic. But change is a process and detoxification isn’t pretty while it’s happening. It is the end result that matters. 3.      Call an Emergency Meeting Next thing you need to do is get all your employees in on this. Call an office-wide meeting and announce that things are going to change around here. Because your office has a toxic environment, you are going to be met with a lot of cynicism. People won’t expect much from a place that has already affected their mental wellbeing. Which is why you have to reach forward and take in suggestions. Ask them exactly what it is that they need. What should stay, what should go? What would make them happier? Is it flexible timing? A change in management styles? Paid days off? More employee days? More challenging tasks? Just know that every single member of your workforce is an agent of change. Everyone has to be in on this to make a difference. Convince them that this is for their own wellness. 4.      No More Secrets You’re rebuilding your office culture from scratch and you need to go by a new manta: practice open communication. Secrecy in the workplace has proven to cause frustration among employees. Whether it is an issue that the office is facing, or certain information that they need to carry on their task, a lack of information taints an employee’s patience and morale. Sometimes, employers or managers want to withhold information from employees simply to reinforce a sense of superiority. If you or one of your managers has been practicing secrecy—stop. Your environment depends on it. 5.      Open Door Policy Which brings us to the next step. Eliminate ‘barriers to entry’ in your workplace. But it is not enough to say that you have an open door policy… you must practice it, as well. When an employee is unhappy with something, they will confide in another employee that they trust and the negativity will spread like wildfire. But when your employee trust you (or the HR/another manager), they will confide into someone that can offer a palpable solution. More importantly, your employees won’t feel nameless and voiceless anymore. So practice an open door policy and encourage employee to come to you with problems, suggestions, new ideas no matter how big or small they are. 6.      Spend Money I’m sure you realize that making all this change requires that you spend money. To keep your employees happy, you’ve got to make sure they are comfortable and they’ve got the things they need, be it supplies or the chair they sit on. Spending on little things like arranging an activity or an event will also go a long way. Similarly, refurbishing an entire work culture and strategies will not come cheap, but it is necessary. 7.      Attitude Makeover Your employees will mirror your attitude toward the organization/them. Take some time to self-reflect and give your own attitude a makeover and watch as the effects trickle down. In a happier workplace, you see employees smiling, have positive discussions, and be excited about improvements in the office. In a toxic workplace, you find more resentment than anything else. Make changes that make your employees happier and you will see their attitude start to change. 8.      Time, Effort, Resources The last step is to give it time, effort and resources. A change in work culture will not happen overnight, but if you put in the effort, it can happen fast. You’ll have to work with every single employee to find out what needs to be fixed and take the right steps in doing so. Of course this will take resources. You’re going to take the people and equipment you have to build a culture where otherwise you’d be using it to make money. But all the time, effort and resources will be worth it. Your company will get the detox it needs and you’ll have yourself a fresh start. Maintain the positive attitude and radiate it, and the results will start coming in. Good luck!

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